Chapter 4: The Mines
"Are you sure you want to do this Kuval?" Yurkmak asked as they trudged along the mountain path, the snowstorm no longer quite so fierce.
"Aye I do."Kuval replied, angrily pushing through the snow that was up to his chest, not because it was a lot of snow, just because he was short.
"Even the orcs of Mordor know that Moria is infested with goblins. It's a death sentence to go into."Yurkmak stated, "Not to mention the way into Moria is lost. No one knows how to enter the place."
"There are ways to get into Moria. Secret passages and corridors."Kuval answered, "And I will risk the goblins to get my ancestor's long lost axe. It's a symbol of my family...and the symbol of our family's failure."
Yurkmak was about to question what he meant by that when they came to the entrance of a cave. The dwarf peered inside, seeing nothing but darkness and only hearing the wind throughout the tunnel. Kuval picked up a stone at the cave's entrance, and tossed it inside. The stone made a loud clanks as it bounced along the cave's floor, however, nothing else could be heard. The cave seemed to be empty.
"Is this the entrance to Moria?"Yurkmak asked, expecting something a little more grand from the lost city of the dwarves.
"Yes and no."Kuval answered, feeling along the cave wall, "The dwarves who crafted Moria placed many hidden exits, in case their home was ever under siege. I've recently came across a manuscript that detailed one such exit exists in this here cave."
Kuval's wandering hands finally found something off along the cave walls. It was a small hole in the cave wall. Other than it seeming to be a little odd, it didn't even look out of the ordinary. Kuval studied the hole intensely, before pulling out his axe and staring at the end of the handle, then looking back up at the cave.
Yurkmak watched as Kuval placed the end of the axe handle into the hole, which fit inside it perfectly. He heard what sounded like mechanisms behind the cave wall coming to life. Kuval twisted his axe in place, twirling the axe around and around. Beside them, part of the wall shook as the rock began to rise slowly, revealing a passageway. With a few more turns of Kuval's axe, the rock rose completely and stayed in place, and he removed his axe from the hole.
"That's...impressive."Yurkmak said, staring into the darkness of the newly revealed passageway.
"Never underestimate the cleverness of a dwarf."Kuval said proudly, twirling his axe in his hand dramatically, "All tips on dwarven axe handles are crafted the same, for this very reason here. Although this type of system hasn't been used in hundreds of years, we dwarves still craft our axes this way. Probably more out of habit I suppose."
They descended into the passageway, which were stairs that lead deeper and deeper into the darkness. The further they walked down the stairs, the darker it got, the light from the cave behind them growing more and more dim. Pretty soon they wouldn't be able to go much further without stumbling around like blind beggars. As if reading Yurkmak's mind, Kuval pulled out a crystal from his pocket, which glowed just enough to light the area around them.
"What is that exactly?"Yurkmak asked, staring at the bright crystal.
"It's a type of crystal found deep in the ground. We dwarves use to mine them for the sake of lighting our many homes and tunnels. Only problem is they have to be set out in the sun every now and then to absorb it's rays. If not, the crystal will no longer produce light."Kuval answered as he once more descended the staircase, with Yurkmak close behind, "This crystal should give us a few hours of light."
"I hope it's enough."Yurkmak said, worried.
"The depths of Moria are long and dark. So probably not!"Kuval stated, but unnervingly had a smile on his face as he said it.
This dwarf is insane! I'm not going to die in the graves of the mountain!Yurkmak thought to himself, silently turning around. However, he watched in horror as the entrance far above slowly closed, the exit was closed and he was stuck in the darkness.
"You coming Yurkmak? I'm not waiting for slow orc such as yourself." Kuval called up to him, as he descended the stairs. Yurkmak sighed in defeat, quickly catching back up to the dwarf. They walked in silence for at least ten minutes, the stairs never seeming to come to an end.
After another few minutes of walking down the steps, it finally came to an end. The staircase opened up to a wide chamber. Gigantic pillars rose from the floor all the way to the ceiling. The area was so spacious Yurkmak guessed it could fit eight trolls sitting on each other's shoulders. However, the floor of the chamber was less grand than the pillars. Huge cracks littered the floor, with no telling what hide in those cracks. Dusty and mummified corpses of fallen dwarves and goblins were scattered everywhere, along with broken arrows, swords, and axes. It was the remnants of a battle long ago, and long forgotten.
"What a soul-shattering site."Kuval said, more to himself than Yurkmak, "My fallen brethren, slain like nothing more than cattle."
"I am sorry Kuval."Yurkmak consoled, stepping up beside his comrade and clasping his shoulder, "but we best no linger here. I'm sure the victors of the battle still reside here. We need to do what we came here to do, and leave as quick as we can."
Kuval sniffed loudly, and nodded. The dwarf wiped his eyes on his sleeve and trudged on. The crystal gave off an eerie light around their surroundings, casting gloomy shadows and making the corpses around them seem like sleeping ghosts. Yurkmak never feared the dead before, after all they were no longer a part of their world, however now, he wasn't so sure. Yurkmak knew one thing though, he did not wish to join them in their sleep.
The duo tried to keep quiet as they walked through the vast chamber, wishing to not disturb whatever has now claimed Moria and theirs. However, their steps still echoed throughout the chamber, much to their dismay. It seemed though that none were near to hear, since they had not yet been swarmed by goblins, or worse.
"Do you even know where your family's axe is? I would prefer to not have to search the whole inside of the mountain."Yurkmak whispered to Kuval.
"Scared of the dark orc?"Kuval teased, smirking at him, "Well according to my family's records, our ancestors resided on one of the upper levels of Moria. So I'm guessing the axe was left in their residence."
"That's a very broad estimation. Just somewhere on the upper levels!"Yurkmak hissed in anger.
"Quit your whining Yurkmak."Kuval hissed back, "We are already on one of the upper levels of Moria. We should be able to find the axe in no time. As long as we don't wake the mountain, we shouldn't run into any trouble."
In the distance they could see a bright light, off to the side of them. It was hard to tell what it was, but it looked like a group of figures were being lead by whoever owned that light. Could it be goblins? Or treasure-hunters? Surely Moria was not so easy to get into these days.
"Who or what is that?"Yurkmak asked, gazing out the group, who had not yet spotted.
"They may be specters. Souls in agony that still wander these defiled halls."Kuval answered, before turning away and walking in the opposite direction, "Best keep our distance. My axe doesn't affect the dead, and I doubt your blade does either."
Yurkmak continued to stare at the group as they and their light receded into the darkness, away from them. Finally, he turned away from the supposed "ghosts" and followed after Kuval, "If you say so. I just hope we don't encounter them again in these mines."